Are you making it easy for thieves?
One of the drawbacks of our new internet age is the rise of online fraud and theft. Some of this is simply unavoidable but a LOT of it can be prevented with some simple and low/no cost solutions.
My background to all these tips is selling through third parties since 1988. In a former life I was a Bank Marketing Director so used to go to some heavy duty meetings about fraud and finally - having a son who spent four years studying for a degree in cyber security.
So here are things that will help.
Affiliate Sales
1) Most of the Affiliate sales type of frauds are to either:
A - to check stolen card details work or more commonly
B - to use the card details to steal affiliate commissions then disappear.
2) So ALWAYS have your Affiliate commission payments set to a 30 day delay and never instant payments.
Most countries have a Legal 30 day cooling off period for sales for customers anyway (Distance Selling Directive as just one) so 30 days is a sensible delay even outside of card fraud.
3) Set up a screening Application form for potential affiliates to fill in. This stops automated fraudulent applications and gives you a chance to review the details shared. Then you can decide whether to accept or not.
Like fake Facebook Accounts, the fraudsters are easy to spot. I use such a form and I have copy on my Affiliate pages that lets people know that not everyone is accepted which stops moaning emails.
4) Set up specific Affiliate Terms that say what will happen if fraud is detected. I have terms written by a lawyer that gives me carte blanche to cancel accounts or withhold payments if fraud is discovered.
Card Payment Processing
5) Be aware that your Card processor such as Stripe is only LENDING you your sales revenue. This is because they are the ones on the hook for chargebacks, refunds, fraud etc and have to repay the victims. So until all chance of that has gone they will look to you to get their lost revenue back if they can.
6) So do EVERYTHING possible on your side to ensure you are being prudent and acting responsibly so you are best protected should your card provider ask questions.
7) Have reCAPTCHA, Two Factor Authentication (2FA) and Authenticator Apps set up and used wherever they are offered.
Site Security
8) Understand that most leaks of security details, passwords and card details come from another place and are actually nothing to do with you. Most are covered up to protect the organisations share price. Above all remember - It’s NOT your fault.
9) If you pay to host your site always use one of the ethical top quality providers like WPX Hosting. Such hosts will use the very latest cyber security defences AND back up your site for you automatically.
I routinely download a full back up from our host every week so if the worst should happen we can be back having lost nothing very quickly.
Personal Finance Security
Last year we had £9k of card fraud on our own personal accounts which was down to bank employee fraud and Apple Pay - thankfully it all got removed.
So also check:
Apple Pay etc – Be careful which apps and games you let have access to your phone as there is some form of weakness where thieves can access your contacts and then use them to try and make fraudulent transactions. We had one large attempted payment being made to someone using the name of our son in law (which we hadn’t initiated). The first thing the bank asked was – do you use Apple pay?….
One Card and One Account – Set up a Bank account that ONLY does your regular payments like your mortgage, insurance etc but on which you NEVER use a card for anything. That way the card details you have are never in circulation. Then have one credit card you only use for online and touch transactions. As a credit card you are much better protected from fraud than using a debit card.
RFID Block Card – Thieves will wander round shops etc with a card reader harvesting the data stored on your chip and pin card using the same wireless technology you use for one touch payments. A cheap RFID blocker card off Amazon prevents your cards being read while they are in your purse or wallet.
Telephone Banking – If telephone banking is offered by your provider ensure you set this up with secure passwords EVEN IF you have no intention of using it. This is a weak spot in Bank security.
Mothers Maiden Name – Never ever, ever, ever, use your Mothers Maiden name as a security option. In these days of family tree research etc Organised Criminal Gangs can find out a mothers maiden name very simply - so choose something else.
Roboform – Always use a service like Roboform to set up secure passwords.
Your Passwords need to be more like: ZH*3jRop2jDJo!VR&5M#6&
and not like: Bobby1995
Change passwords regularly – Change your passwords regularly (easy if you use Roboform etc)
Never use duplicates – NEVER use the same password in different places.
If you want to get some ideas for your own Affiliate program then just visit the Affiliate Zone on ezecontent.com and browse away.
You can find out all about our Affiliate Program here.
